Astrium Completes first Swarm flight unit
The Swarm satellites are being put through their paces at Ottobrunn, near Munich, in a three-month series of tests designed to demonstrate their fitness for space flight. The first unit will be delivered to Munich this month. Satellites 2 and 3 will be delivered for testing in February and April 2011 respectively.
Swarm will, in a manner of speaking, follow in the footsteps of Jules Verne’s novel “Journey to the Center of the Earth”. Today, however, it is no longer necessary to dig tunnels or drill holes in order to take a close look at the composition of the Earth’s interior and the processes taking place there. With Swarm this can be achieved from orbit, with the key words in this context being “satellite remote sensing”.
Very precise, high-resolution readings of the strength and orientation of, and fluctuations in, the geomagnetic field, complemented by precise navigation, velocity measurements and measurements of the electric field intensity, will provide the observational data required to distinguish between the various sources of the geomagnetic field and to explain them through models.
The Earth’s gravitational and magnetic fields offer direct insights into the workings of its’ interior: from the variations these fields display at different times and places, scientists can draw conclusions about the dynamic processes taking place below the planet’s surface. Observation of these aspects from outer space offers a unique opportunity to take a closer look both at the composition of the interior of our planet and at the processes at work there.
The mission will enable scientists to analyze the Sun’s influence on the Earth and a better knowledge of the geomagnetic field will also provide benefits of a practical nature, such as more accurate navigation for ships and aircraft, the discovery of new natural resources below the Earth’s surface, a better understanding of the impact of the Sun on the Earth’s meteorological cycles, and timely warnings of dangerous radiation.
The three identical Swarm satellites will thus carry out the most exact survey to date of the geomagnetic field and record any changes occurring in it. The satellites will be launched into a polar orbit at an altitude of 490 km. After four years, two of the satellites will be steered into a lower orbit, circling the Earth in tandem at a height of 300 km. The course of third, higher-orbiting satellite will then be altered to cross the path of the two satellites in the lower orbit at an angle of 90 degrees. All three satellites will be launched simultaneously from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome (around 800 km northeast of Moscow) on a single Rockot launch vehicle.
Astrium – unique experience in building magnetic-field research satellites
Astrium began developing its first satellite for magnetic-field research in deep space – the ISEE-B – back in the 1970s. This work continued with the development of the four-satellite Cluster formation that has been in orbit since 2000. In the field of low Earth orbit satellites, the German satellite Champ, also launched in 2000, was built to an Astrium design. The Swarm constellation is now the next logical step along this path. In terms of technology, Swarm has direct predecessors in the Champ satellite and the Cryosat satellite, which will map the polar ice caps and for which Astrium was also responsible. When it comes to overall system design, individual subsystems or test ranges, Astrium’ s satellite builders can draw on the wealth of experience they gained in these earlier projects.
